This Tricked Out Computer Only Costs $9

Watch out, Raspberry Pi — there’s a new kid on the block of ultra-compact, stripped-down computers. Smaller and cheaper than the Pi, the C.H.I.P., by Next Thing Co., is the world’s first nine-dollar computer. The C.H.I.P. was designed to give everyone the opportunity to harness their inner techie. It’s versatile enough for surfing the web, saving documents, checking email and playing games. At roughly the size of a battery, the C.H.I.P. proves that good things really do come in small packages.

Don’t let the adorable name or pint size fool you. The C.H.I.P. offers 1 GHz of processing power, 512 MB of RAM and 4 GB of storage. It also contains built-in WiFi and Bluetooth so you can connect the computer to a keyboard and mouse wirelessly. Have an old-school monitor that you’re ready to ditch? Now is your chance to revive it, since the C.H.I.P. can connect to a screen of any size via its built-in composite output or an HDMI or VGA adapter.

The C.H.I.P. offers an open-source operating system with a host of familiar interfaces for its users. LibreOffice on the C.H.I.P. is similar to Microsoft Office and allows you to create documents and spreadsheets. If you can’t part with Google Chrome, take heart: Chromium on the C.H.I.P. makes for easy browsing.

If you want to become the next Mark Zuckerberg but don’t know how to get started, the C.H.I.P. may be perfect for you. It comes with Scratch, a computer language that teaches users how to code through games and animations. If you would rather play games than program them, you can play old or new games on the C.H.I.P. by connecting Bluetooth controllers to it. Along with games, the C.H.I.P. can run thousands of open-source applications.

We’re extra excited that the C.H.I.P. team is also offering the Pocket C.H.I.P., which, when used with the C.H.I.P., provides a 4.3-inch portable computer with a five-hour battery. If you want to join over one million others in bringing the C.H.I.P. into the mainstream market, you can check out the Kickstarter campaign here. With a nine-dollar pledge, you can have a C.H.I.P. computer in your hands as early as next February. The company is currently shipping worldwide.